Everything You Need To Know About Color Correcting Makeup

Move over, contouring. Color correcting makeup is getting all the beauty buzz these days, and for good reason. The trend really works, whether you’re trying to conceal a breakout or dark circles, or just looking to amp up your complexion. “Women work really hard to have beautiful skin and don't want to look like they are wearing a lot of makeup,” says
Dell Ashley, Director of Makeup Artistry at Yves Saint Laurent Beauté. “Color correcting allows for them to conceal any specific issues they are having with their skin without heavy coverage foundations.”

So how do you know if color correctors are right for you? “Women should use correctors if the feel they have redness, sallowness or dark areas on their skin,” Ashley says. “It fakes a flawless complexion by helping to camouflage imperfections.” By using a color corrector as a primer, you should be able to use less foundation, though it won’t affect the rest of your makeup.

While applying a bright green concealer to your face might seem counterintuitive, color correcting is all about the basic principles of color theory. Visualize the color wheel: Hues that are across from each other cancel one another out. That means the same rules that work on the canvas also work on your face. “For example, with green being opposite of red on the color wheel, they cancel each other out and become a neutral color,” explains Ashley. “Therefore they do not show through foundation or concealer.”

Instead of taking the typical approach to finding concealer by putting the focus on your skin tone, with color correctors it’s better to identify what you are trying to neutralize. “By adding peach or orange under the eye you can take away blue or purplish areas,” says Ashley. “Pink works best for greenish areas, yellow adds warmth to the skin, blue makes the skin tone cooler, and lavender cancels dullness.” Adding a cool tone like purple brightens and softens the complexion. Use peach for dark circles, green for acne, and pink for hyperpigmentation.